Updated August 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM EDT
President Trump is open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after a U.S. special envoy reported progress in talks with the Kremlin leader, the White House said Wednesday.
"The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy. President Trump wants this brutal war to end," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Trump and the Kremlin both gave positive signs after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's talks with Putin in Moscow, which the Kremlin press team said lasted about three hours.
"My Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Afterwards, I updated some of our European Allies. Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come."
The Kremlin released a video showing Putin greeting Witkoff with a warm handshake. Yuri Ushakov, a Russian presidential aide, was quoted by state media as calling the discussions "useful" and "constructive" and said the two sides exchanged "signals" on the "Ukraine issue."
The meeting came ahead of a U.S.-imposed Friday deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire deal with Ukraine or face new economic penalties.
Secondary sanctions that Trump threatened to impose on Russia's trading partners if it failed to agree to end the war are still expected to be implemented on Friday, according to a senior administration official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
In a sign that some new penalties were underway, Trump signed an executive order saying he would slap an extra 25% tariff on India over its purchases of Russian oil.
Trump's frustration
The news follows weeks in which the president has grown increasingly impatient with Putin over his failure to stop attacking Ukrainian cities, despite months of U.S.-led peace efforts.
Russia launched its ongoing, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, following years of conflict in eastern Ukraine, leading to Europe's deadliest war since World War II.
Trump had campaigned to return to office vowing he could leverage his personal relationship with Putin developed over his first term in office to end the war in "24 hours." His administration made overtures to the Kremlin, voicing support for key Russian demands of Ukraine.
But after weeks voicing his frustration over Russia's continued deadly assaults on Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine, in mid-July Trump announced a policy shift. He said the U.S. had reached a deal to sell American-made weapons to NATO allies in Europe, which would then send U.S. weapons to Ukraine.
He also warned that Russia had 50 days to end the war or face "severe" new economic penalties. He said this included "secondary tariffs" on countries buying Russian goods. India and China are leading importers of oil from Russia.
Last week, Trump upped his ultimatum, making this Friday the deadline for Russia to make peace.
He has explained that the plan is to starve the Russian war machine of fuel revenue. But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he questioned whether more economic penalties could push Russia to change course. "You know, they're wily characters and they're pretty good at avoiding sanctions," Trump said.
Russia shrugs
Putin has largely avoided addressing Trump's threats in public, only breaking his silence last week with a brief, veiled reference to the U.S. leader.
"All disappointments stem from inflated expectations, as the saying goes," Putin told reporters last Friday following a visit to a monastery in northwest Russia.
"In order to solve the issue in a peaceful way," Putin said, "we need deep conversations, and not in public, but in the calm quiet of the negotiating process."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov downplayed Trump's threat to impose penalties by Friday. He said Moscow had "taken note" of the comments, but asserted that Russia's economy had grown largely "immune" to Western pressure following more than three years of sanctions.
Trump warms to Ukraine
While President Trump has increasingly criticized Russia, his relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has improved dramatically since they had an on-camera argument in the White House back in February.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday on social media that he had a "productive conversation" with Trump on the eve of Witkoff's trip to Moscow.
"Of course, we spoke about sanctions against Russia," Zelenskyy said. "Their economy continues to decline, and that's exactly why Moscow is so sensitive to this prospect and President Trump's resolve."
Zelenskyy also announced that four European countries have agreed to buy U.S. weapons and send them to Ukraine under the arrangement Trump announced last month.
"We already have commitments from the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark – over one billion dollars for American weapons that Ukraine will receive. Thank you! This cooperation with NATO countries will continue," Zelenskyy said.
The Netherlands said it will send American missiles and other parts for U.S. Patriot air defense systems already in Ukraine, valuing the assistance at more than $500 million.
The Patriot batteries are Ukraine's most effective means of shooting down incoming Russian missiles. The Ukrainians say they urgently need additional missiles for the Patriot batteries to defend against escalating Russian airstrikes.
"This helps Ukraine to defend itself and the rest of Europe against Russian aggression," Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans wrote on X.
Sweden, Norway and Denmark say they've collectively agreed to support a package of U.S. weapons as well, this one for a little under $500 million. There was no immediate word on which U.S. arms they would send to Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy confirmed he and other European leaders discussed the results of Witkoff's Moscow trip on a call with Trump.
"Russia must end the war that it itself started," he wrote on social media. "Thank you to everyone who stands with Ukraine."
Charles Maynes reported in Moscow. Greg Myre contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine. Franco Ordoñez contributed from Washington, D.C.
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